January 24, 2010, 1:17PM

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Sunday it is cutting more than 10,000 jobs at Sam's Club, representing about 9 percent of the warehouse club operator's staff, as it outsources its product-sampling department to marketing company Shopper Events and eliminates another unit. "Our demos can be a competitive advantage and we want to take this member experience... Full story »

January 21, 2010, 8:48AM

LSU AgCenter experts say recent freezing weather in south Louisiana will cause this year's strawberry crop to come in a little later, but the damage is not as bad as the industry first believed. Regina Bracy, LSU AgCenter horticulturist at the LSU AgCenter's Hammond Research Station, tells The Advocate the crop could be set back for nearly a month.... Full story »

January 15, 2010, 8:54AM

Consumer inflation was tame in 2009, with prices rising 2.7 percent. Yet families felt squeezed as their spending power sank in the face of falling wages, job losses and higher prices for energy, medical care and education. A surge in energy prices last year offset the biggest drop in food costs in nearly a half century. The Labor Department... Full story »

January 15, 2010, 8:36AM

A Baton Rouge film studio project has won preliminary approval for $265 million in bonds. The Louisiana Public Facilities Authority board gave preliminary approval to the Red Stick Studio Development LLC project this week. Martin Walke, the LPFA's vice president of economic development, tells The Advocate the approval is the first in a four-step process. Walke says still to... Full story »

January 15, 2010, 5:00AM

The number of homeowners' policies written for the state's insurer of last resort is approaching the pre-2005 level, before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged south Louisiana, the chief executive of the company said Thursday. John Wortman, the CEO of the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., said that as of Nov. 30 the company had about 131,000 policies on its... Full story »

January 11, 2010, 7:42AM

In the hunt to bring in new jobs while playing catch-up with the rest of the South, Louisiana is looking at some economic sectors -- both old and new -- not normally associated with the state's traditional image. Full story »

January 05, 2010, 3:16PM

Entergy Corp. is $236 million behind in its investments to pay for the eventual shutdown of its two nuclear plants in Louisiana, and the company has asked the Louisiana Public Service Commission for permission to increase rates so that customers can make up the shortfall. Last year, Entergy reported to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it had fallen... Full story »

January 05, 2010, 11:14AM

Tuesday night's mayoral forum on housing will focus on issues of interest to the real estate and development community, such as housing, blight and the city's master plan. The forum, sponsored by the New Orleans Metropolitan Realtors Association, the Home Builders of Greater New Orleans and the Louisiana Bankers Association in partnership with Sacred Heart and the Bouligny Improvement... Full story »

January 03, 2010, 10:50AM

In the heart of Cajun country, where south Vermilion Parish extends a hand to the Gulf of Mexico, managers of one of the nation's oldest nature preserves are wrestling an existential crisis. The National Audubon Society's Paul J. Rainey Sanctuary, a 26,000-acre rest stop for thousands of birds migrating south for winter, is one of Louisiana's best-kept wetlands. But... Full story »